hobbitgrrl, have you heard an ad on the radio that sounds like the song is by TMBG?! Something along the lines of "It's too hot to mow the grass but I'm going to mow it anyway"? *looks nervously from side to side* My god... has TMBG gone COMMERCIAL??!?!?!

onecheekyhobbit, I found a one page article in a flight magazine a couple of months ago that I keep meaning to mention here. It's about (wait for it...) CHUCK TAYLOR!!!! Yep. Curious? Or do you already know who he was and why Chuck's were named after him? Do inquiring minds want to know?

psyknife - did I miss your entry or have you left us for MySpace? I don't remember seeing anything about Wizard World and if you liked it, but maybe I haven't completely caught up from Lollapalooza. Same thing for tootsiemuppet; I finally get back into the books and I'm in the middle of "The Hundred Days", and what happens? I haven't heard a peep from you about the books since I started the previous book again! Then again, something ilthit said makes me think you might have been up there visiting her. *G*

anima_mecanique, I may give you a call around dinner time Saturday evening, to see if you're free to eat, and/or if there's a LARP you want to try to get into that night.

As for me, what have I been doing? Well, the cats have been very up and down healthwise all month - not eating, or turning yellow (too much bile), or throwing up, or not pooping (my, this is fun to read!), so I've been going to the vet, trying different foods to get them to eat, trying different medications (antibiotics, steroids, antacids). They're 18 years old or so, so it could be anything. I *think* they're doing better; they have been finishing their meals and (yes, this IS exciting) pooping. Thought it was all over. Then found throwup, and one of them had wet stool. Damn. I hope it was a fluke! (damn... I put this behind an lj-cut, but it's not working...!)

On the other hand, work is going better. Still sometimes frustrated with my boss's way of communicating (a little TOO blunt at times, and sometimes frustratingly hard to follow - for which she tends to blame the person trying to follow, a bad habit of hers), but mostly feeling more at home and developing a feel for what I'm doing. And my house will go on the market finally, so I can now buy one here! I'm worried that I'm finally putting it on just as the last-minute spurt of end-of-summer house sales is ending; we'll see. I don't think a family with kids would buy the place, so it may be that the school year calendar won't be critical to selling it.

I went to Lollapalooza and the Tall Ships last weekend; this weekend I'm driving down to Indy to check on the house and go to Gen Con (GEEKS!!!!). And I'm thinking more and more about a possible side trip to Cincinnati on Sunday evening (30STM), if I can ask for the day off. Plus, I should be able to do a morning visit to a prairie Saturday morning, which I really have been missing. Let's hope the cats are okay for the next 2 days, so I'll feel okay about being gone for 2 days and leaving them with just dry food. *crosses fingers*

Sold out?!?!?! DAMN! Yes, could you? I have my house to stay in (which I would invite you to stay in, too, but you've already bought your bus ticket, etc.), so I'll probably drive over Sun afternoon, drive back after the concert, and head to Chicago on Monday morning. Thanks, though! *S*

Heh, well they've been "commercial" for quite some time now. :D But mostly TV commercials/movie soundtracks/etc, I haven't heard anything about radio stuff lately. It's entirely possible. Right now they're the music for an entire series of Dunkin' Donuts ads.

Best of luck to you on selling your house. I know all about those worries about the market and who would like your house, etc. But you have such an adorable home, I can't imagine it not getting snapped up right away. At least it's not a dime-a-dozen two story like ours!

Old kitties = lots of trips to the vet. I do hope they get better! *hugs*

It was in Indianapolis Monthly, in the Native Son section: "The Shoes Make the Man: A local author reveals the truth about the man whose name graces Converse's All Stars". The book is "Chuck Taylor All Star", and the author is Abraham Aamidor. Taylor was born in 1901, in Brown County, Indiana. Taylor played basketball in high school, then jumped into what passed for a pro league back then. Eventually he led a barnstorming team sponsored by a shoe company: The Converse All-Stars. He started holding clinics across the company, teaching the fledgling game, and of course, pitching the Converse shoe. He combined playing and selling for years, becoming so well-known that by 1932 the company put his name on the shoes.

A quote at the end of the article says "Like Levi's and Ford Mustangs, Chucks are iconic - they'll always be cool." *G*

Aubrey the Chaste is what I am called throughout the service.

Tootsiemuppet was off spending a week in London on an O'Brian/Nelson tour with wicked_warrior and she only just got back today. :)

I haven't had much time to read (obviously), but I'm about a hundred pages into "The Hundred Days" (am I bad for feeling worse for Stephen after the Diana incident than about Diana? I'm so awful. And anxious. Poor Stephen. Though he seems to be coping.)I also bought "Blue at the Mizzen", "21", "The Golden Ocean" and "The Unknown Shore" while I was there. And "The World of Jack Aubrey", because it had pretty pictures.

Aw Ros, so good to read up on you and the kitties. Give them special hugs from Poppy. I've lost two of my 3 kitties in the last month - one to cancer and the other simply went wandering and never returned. It has been a sad kitty month for us. Our remaining kitty, Chester, is very lonely and depressed.

Glad the job is going ok, too. Elijah has been learning all about Amtrak trains, and has decided he wants to ride the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago, or in his words "Amtrak Builder Lattle Cago for couple days Elijah go now!" I might add that I told him I was born in Chicago, and he said "mommy come out meemah's yoni Cago". Oops, too much information! I also told him that my good friend Rosamunde is there, but I don't think he understands the word "moot" yet. One of my life goals still remains to get you to visit and photograph the Pacific Northwest, m'dear.

Hello! Sorry I didn't comment on the last Elijah album; It's been a bit crazy as you can tell!

No... I'm so sorry about your cats! That's such a shame. Oh my gosh, he can speak that much? "meemah's yoni" - *LOL*!!!! Yes, "moot" would be a very good word to start on ASAP.

Ooooo! Maybe next year? *G* I do wish TAP would move into the 21st century and give more than 3 weeks vacation/year (and that covers Christmas). I'll see what I can do. *G* Thanks for popping into LJ! Always good to see you.

Oh, and the kitties are doing better than expected; they got through 2 days on their own while I went down to Indy!